The 3 best pitches from the TechStars Windows Azure accelerator

The Microsoft Accelerator entrepreneurs get together for a group shot on Demo Day. All photos courtesy of Sam Rosenbalm (@rosenbalm).

Three months of hard work, coaching, mentoring and a whole lot of cloud applications culminated Friday afternoon at the Westin Seattle hotel for the Microsoft’s Windows Azure Accelerator Demo Day.

One by one, ten entrepreneurs pitched their ideas, hoping to convince angel investors and venture capitalists in the crowd to open up their wallets.

The Windows Azure accelerator program was operated in conjunction with TechStars, as each company received $20,000 in startup capital, $60,000 in Azure credit and access to resources from BizSpark.

Many of the startups have already raised a nice chunk of change. While every presentation was polished, I thought there were a few that stood out:

Builders Cloud CEO Andrey Nokhrin.

Builders Cloud— This was probably my favorite pitch, mainly because the idea is so practical. Builders Cloud is a file-sharing and mobile collaboration platform for the construction industry, allowing workers to access, edit and send files while on the job. The startup helps companies save money, time and paper in a construction industry ripe for innovation like this.

I also like that CEO Andrey Nokhrin worked for six years as a construction project manager. He knows the challenge of sharing building plans and construction documents first hand.

The startup has reeled in $1 million already and is looking to raise another $250,000. Find out more about Builders Cloud in our Startup Spotlight from earlier this year.

Azuqua CEO Nikhil Hasija.

Azuqua— Really like the potential for Azuqua. Big companies are spending billions of dollars on integration software that allows them to connect different programs together — for example, something that helps link information from Twitter to a Salesforce data sheet. Azuqua helps these companies do this more affordably with cloud-based enterprise apps in ten minutes or less without writing any code.

Azuqua has an impressive lineup of advisors, from Microsoft CIO Tony Scott to Bob Kelly and Chris Hahn. CEO Nikhil Hasija leads the company, which has brought in $320,000 and is looking to close a $750,000 round.

Boxella CEO Vikas Khandelwal.

Boxella — Boxella is one of those companies with a very real problem and a simple solution. The startup has a mobile app that is trying to make it dead simple to track product manuals, warranties and receipts for consumers. Boxella also wants to help companies improve customer retention and enhance the post-purchase experience.

Founders Vikas Khandelwal and Pankaj Sethi met as classmates nearly 16 years ago at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur. They’ve raised $110,000 and are looking to close a $450,000 round.

Again, it was tough just picking three favorites. Here’s a little bit about the other startups:

1Track CEO Praveen Seshadri.

1Track— With its mobile app, 1Track essentially connects the right buyers with the right vendors at huge B2b trade shows around the country. The app allows buyers to scan product tags, take notes, organize data and share information with colleagues. On the flipside, the app lets vendors access customer profiles to paint a better picture of their demands.

Airpost.io — Airpost tackles a pressing problem: Big companies don’t know what cloud services their employees are using or where information is going. Airpost.io gives them control over this info and unifies cloud storage services to allow people to access files from anywhere.

Beehive Biometrics— Almost put Beehive into my top three because I love this idea. This startup eliminates false identities online by enabling developers to incorporate biometric matching into apps with a single line of code.

Led by CEO Mary Haskett, the company has raised $100,000 and is looking to close a $750,000 round.

Factor.io CEO Maciej Skierkowski.

Factor.io— Factor.io makes it easy for engineering teams to build their continuous integration and deployment pipeline. Developers can easily take code and deploy it to the cloud.

Led by CEO Maciej Skierkowski, Factor.io has raised $240,000 and is looking to close a $500,000 round.

Heroic.ly CEO Justin Williams.

Heroic.ly— Heroic.ly provides marketing managers with insights and recommendations for maximizing ROI from specific content. Essentially, the startup tells you what types of content are driving the most traffic/revenue.

Led by CEO Justin Williams, the company has raised $160,000 and is looking to close a $400,000 round.

OFunnel CEO Kushal Shah.

OFunnel — OFunnel unleashes the power of your networks for business growth. The company wants to kill “cold calls,” and leverage company networks for introductions to potential new partners and customers.

Led by CEO Kushal Shah, OFunnel has raised $150,000 and is looking to close a $450,000 round.

Synch CEO Scott Dyer.

Synch — Synch simplifies product distribution with mobile sales data and real-time inventory. The company helps distributors save time with a cloud-based solution with a dashboard that allows them to see their business insights.

Led by CEO Scott Dyer, Synch has raised $170,000 and is looking to close a $500,000 round.

Taylor Soper is a GeekWire staff reporter who covers a wide variety of tech assignments, including emerging startups in Seattle and Portland, the sharing economy and the intersection of technology and sports. Follow him @taylor_soper and email taylor@geekwire.com.